Commissioners Set Attorney Office’s Employee’s Salary
After some debate, Roosevelt County commissioners continued having a split vote regarding a pay increase for a Roosevelt County attorney office’s employee on Tuesday, Sept. 21.
Commissioner Gordon Oelkers voted to increase attorney office employee Erika Fyfe’s salary to 83 percent of the clerk and recorder’s salary figure and then to increase the salary to 84 percent after six months. Commissioner Duane Nygaard voted against the motion. Commissioner Gary Macdonald was absent from the meeting.
Nygaard then made a motion to pay Fyfe 80 percent of the clerk and recorder’s salary figure starting on Oct. 1, and then to review the salary after six months. The motion passed 2-0.
Donna Reum is retiring Sept. 30 as the county’s legal assistant. She has worked for the county for 25 years. Fyfe, who started working in the office on March 1, will be moved up to the legal assistant position.
Nygaard said that Fyfe is a great employee but feels she should start at 80 percent.
“I’m sure she will get her raises right along,” he said.
In a letter to commissioners, county attorney Frank A. Piocos wrote that starting Fyfe at 80 percent is “totally unreasonable and not commensurate with her duties compared to other positions in Roosevelt County.”
Piocos noted that the attorney office’s budget isn’t currently paying for a deputy attorney and that Fyfe will be earning less than the retiring Reum.
“As a department head, I should have some say in what my employee’s starting salary is rather than feedback from people who have no idea what the position entails.”
Also during the meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 21, commissioners agreed to change the fire restrictions from stage one to a fire ban. If you want to burn an area, contact the fire marshal.
“It’s still not an open burn,” Oelkers said.
Commissioners accepted the resignations of sheriff’s office employee Robert Corbell and dispatch employee Amiee Black. Both individuals are leaving the area.
Corbell was serving as a deputy in the Froid area.
“We want to have enforcement there,” Oelkers said of losing deputies on the east side of the county. “It’s a constant struggle.”
